Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund managed by Bill Ackman, revealed a 21.7% stake in Nomad Holdings, a special purpose acquisition vehicle based in the United Kingdom.
Pershing Square investment details
Based on its regulatory filing, Pershing Square Capital Management and its affiliate funds have 33,333,334 voting rights through depositary interests representing the ordinary shares of Nomad Holdings.
Pershing Square L.P. holds 9,931,521 voting rights or 6.5%, Pershing Square II L.P. holds 235,405 voting rights or 0.2%, Pershing Square Holdings Ltd holds 12,340,299 voting rights or 8%, and Pershing Square International holds 10,826,109 voting rights or 7%.
Ackman admires the strategy of Nomad Holdings’ co-founder
During the Ira Sohn Conference in May, Ackman praised the track record of Martin Franklin, the co-founder of Nomad Holdings. He noted that Franklin is focused on value-creating acquisition and capital allocation strategy.
According to Ackman, Franklin maintains high standards for quality and valuation of acquired businesses, focuses on the shareholder value creation, and uses debt and equity to finance acquisitions intelligently.
In its presentation, Ackman noted that the stock price of Nomad Holdings increased ~80% since its initial public offering (IPO) over a year ago. The increase was primarily due to the announced acquisition of Iglo Foods Holdings.
Nomad Holdings completes Iglo Foods acquisition
Yesterday, Nomad Holdings completed its acquisition of Iglo Foods Holdings for €2.6 billion. Iglo Foods Holdings is the leading frozen food company in Europe.
Nomad Holdings changed its name to Nomad Foods Limited following the closing of the deal. Stéfan Descheemaeker was named CEO of Nomad and Iglo Group effective immediately. He was also appointed to the company’s board of directors.
Paul Kenyon, the CFO of Iglo Group, has been appointed to serve as CFO of Nomad, and to join the board of directors of the company.
“The completion of this acquisition marks the start of Nomad's growth story. Through Iglo Group, Nomad has gained an established presence in Europe's fragmented frozen foods space. Martin (Franklin) and I look forward to building on Iglo Group's market-leading position and to expanding into new and adjacent categories through disciplined M&A activity,” said Noam Gottesman, co-founder of Nomad.
The trading of the shares of Nomad was halted since the company announced its acquisition of Igloo Foods. The stock closed $18.25 per share at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on April 28.
